Process of and apparatus for forming bast-wood fibers for making fabrics and webs



1 .LKJMPFEL PROCESS OF AND APPARATUS FOR F RMING BAST WOOD FIBERS FOR -NAKING FABRICS AND WEBS Filed July 10 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 1,502,912 D FIBERS July 29. 1924.

. J. KUMPFEL PROCESS OF AND APPARATUS FOR FORMING BAST WOO FOR MAKING FABRICS AND WEBS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 led July 10 Patented July 29, 1924.

" mean Fries.

rnoonss or AND APPARATUS roaroiaivriive EAST-WOOD FIBERS non MAKING V V FABRICS AND -WEBS.

' Application filed July 10,

'15 13,006; Switzerland, April 13th, 1923, No.

22,797; Poland, April th, 1923, No. 3,866;

Belgium, May 11th, 1923, No. 247,640;

France, May 14th, 1923, No/173,343; England, May 17th, 1923, No. 13,237; Italy, May 20 21st," 1923, No. 341/; Denmark, June 15th, 1923, N0. 1,081; Norway, June'28th, 1923, No. 28,820; Sweden, July 13th, 1923, No. 1,956; Finland, July 14th, 1923, No. 2,613; Holland, July 19th, 1923, No. 24,833; Japan, October 4th, 1923, 'No, 168), of which the "following is a specification. The manufacture of wood fibers for tabrics or webs was hitherto" effected in such a way that a chip was planed-oit from knotless linden or asp wood and split into single threads by means of a scraperlike tool. Threads thus obtained have a maximum length of about inches only. Said short bast-wood threads were further worked on hand-operated looms to produce fabrics or webs therefrom, the latter being however of small dimensions only owing to the short length of thethreads for the warp. For each fresh thread, the loom must be re-prepared and re-a-djusted, which work assumed the largest portion of the working time for manufacturing the web and, besides, required skilled workmen. The warp formed of the short wood threads could, finally, never be wholly worked-up, a considerable portion of the same being left as waste material. I

The present invention consists, essentially, in working the short'wood threads to fibers of rather great length, whereby the latter can be used as warps and wefts like textile fibers. The advantages attained by the improved process are mainly as follows:

1. About 70% of the vrorking time for 1923. Serial No. 650,725.

preparing the loom for each short thread are-spared;

2. Instead of each loom being attended to by one skilled workman, one unskilled person can attend to three to six (or more, according to the quality of ware required) looms at a time;

3. By continuously produced ware, also the short residue piece falling-off from the short threads can be further used, thereby obtaining a saving of material of about 30%.

The improved process essentially consists in first joining the single planed-oft wood chips to a continuous strip by means of glue and then splitting said strip to threads, which are wound-up on rolls and used as an endless warp on the loom.

The accompanying drawingsrepresent, by way of example, appropriateconstructional forms of apparatus for putting the improved process into practice i Figs. 1 and 2 are respectively a side view and a front view ofthe apparatus for planing-cit the wood chips; Fig. 1 showing part of Fig.1 in a face view;

Fig. 3 is av side view of the gluing and pressing contrivance';

Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are sidevlews of the splitting means in three different constructions of the same,

'Figs. 7, 8 and 9 are .front views of the illustrations shown in Figs. 4, 5 and 6 respectively.

Referringto Figs. 1 and 2:

The wood pieces 1 of regular shape are fastened within a frame 2 fixed on the reciprocating ,table of the planing machine. ,Above the wood piece 1, a stationary plate '3' is located. In said plate, the wood cutter in the slot .8, theinolination of the support 4 with reference to the plate 3can be varied. The support 4 carries the cutter 9, which with its working, edge projects through a slot in the plate 3, by means of a screwspindle 10, which serves to adjust said cutter to its proper working position.

-. Above the working edge of the cutter 9, a V

channel 11 is arranged, for the purpose of receiving therein the wood chip S planedoflf. Said channel is formed of sheet-metal walls 12, which are arranged in an easily detachable manner in order to permit of an easy access to the interior of the channel in case of need. The chips S are conveyed, by rotary roller pairs 13 extending through recesses in the channel walls 12, to a storage place, which may be situated either (as indicated by the dotted lines) laterally from, or (as indicated by the full lines) above, the planing machine. The rotary roller pairs 13 are driven by an endless chain gearing 14, the circumferential speed of the rollers corresponding to that at which the chip leaves the cutter 9.

At the end of the conveyor 12, 13 a collector 15 is provided for the reception of the arriving wood chips S.

Referring to Fig. 3

According to the invention, the single wood chips S of comparatively short length are then joined into a long stri 1). This can be effected in various ways. ccording to the example, the ends of the chips are connected by means of glue.

The collector 15 containing the chips S is brought within the range of a rotary brush 16, which rotates in the direction of the arrow shown thereon and Which, during part of said rotation, provides the end of the uppermost chip S with glue. Within the range of the brush 16, furthermore, a

' glue container 17 is located and provided with a scraper 18 for stripping-off the superfluous glue from the brush 16. As soon as the brush 16 at its rotation has left the uppermost chip S, and thus come beyond the path of the collector 15 the latter with the chips therein is lifted in any appropriate way up to the pressing contrivance. The latter comprises two pairs of conveying rollers 19, which are rotated in opposite directions and which are in slight contact with one another. An endless chain-gearing 20, 21, 22 serves to drive said rollers. The rollers project through slots in the sheetmetal walls 23, 23 of a channel 24, through which the chips S are pulled. Slots 25 in the channel walls serve to ventilate the interior of the channehif desired by hot-air,

in order to dry thereby the chips at theirv glued ends. At the front end of the channel, the lower channel wall 23 is somewhat shorter than the upper one 23, for the purpose of permitting the uppermost chip S in the collector 15, that is at its end provided with glue, tocome directly in contact with the chip already in the channel 24, to the end of which chip it is glued at the end of the upward movement of the collector 15. The chip thus joined is pulled into the channel 24, the glued joining ends being pressed between the contacting rollers 19. The strip S thus produced is wound upon a roll 26.

The first chip in the channel 2 1 is inserted therein by hand. As soon as the upper most chip S in the collector 15 is glued to the chip in the channel, the collector 15 is again lowered, and the proceeding begins afresh as described.

Referring to Figs. 4 to 9 inc-1.:-

In order to split the strip S to single fibres, the strip S must be cut lengthwise, which can be effected in various ways. The strip S is, for this purpose, unwound from the roll 26, passed through guiding-rollers and through the splitting means hereinafter described and again wound-up on aroll 27.

In th example shown in Figs. 4: and 7, arotary upper disc 23 with a plurality of circumferential cutters 29 is employed, the dis tance between each two cutters 29 corresponding to the thickness of the fibers to be cut, a rotary lower counter-disc 30 with corresponding cutters 31 meshing with said disc 28, 29, while the strip S is passed through said discs, which move in the same direction as, and at about equal speed to that of, the advancing strip S In the example shown in Figs. 5 and 8, the rotary cutter-disc 28, 29 moves at very high speed and in opposite direction to that of the advancing strip S the latter bearing upon two rollers 32, one in front of and the other behind said cutter-disc; the lower cutter-disc being omitted in this case.

In the example shown in Figs. 6 and 9, stationary cutters 33 with a correspondingly grooved counter-block 3 1 are used.

The wood fibers thus split are singly found upon bobbins and then used as warps and wefts onthe loom like textile fibers.

The manufacture of braids from said wood fibers can also be effected more advantageously than with short bast-wood fibers, because also in this case the stopping and re-adjustment of the loom required for each single short fiber is dispensed with.

What I claim, is

A process of forming bast-wood fibers for making fabrics and webs, consisting in planing-off from a wood piece thin chips of the width of the latter, collecting said chips in superposed fashion in a collector, providing one end of the uppermost chip with glue, joining the single chips into a long strip, splitting the latter into single thin fibers, winding the latter on bobbins, and using the same as warps and wefts, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOSEF KUMPFEL. Witnesses:

GUsrAv BOHAIO, FRANK BERANEK. 

